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EXPLAINED: What people vaccinated with Covishield need to know about travel to France

France announced on Saturday that people who receive the Covishield injection, the version of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine manufactured in India, will be allowed to enter the country without quarantining. Here's what they need to consider before travelling to France.

Published: 19 July 2021 11:12 CEST
EXPLAINED: What people vaccinated with Covishield need to know about travel to France
Photo: Ian LANGSDON / POOL / AFP.

The Covishield vaccine is mainly used in India and Africa, but is also widely administered in the UK. Here’s everything you need to know about travelling to France if you have received the Covishield jab.

What’s the latest?

France will now accept the Covishield vaccine for travel purposes, as well as for use with the country’s health pass, which will soon be necessary for everyday activities such as going to the cinema or eating at a restaurant, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Saturday July 17th.

Covishield is the version of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced under licence by the Serum Institute in India. It is made to the same specifications as Vaxzevria, the version produced in Europe, but is not currently approved by the European Medicines Agency.

The UK and Indian governments had been putting pressure on the EU to recognise the jab. Several European countries already allowed visitors vaccinated with Covishield, including Germany and Spain. But as The Local reported earlier this month, France previously considered travellers from the UK, India and Africa who received the Covishield jab to be “unvaccinated”.

From Sunday July 18th, they will be treated the same as those who received a Pfizer/Comirnaty, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, or AstraZeneca/Vaxzevria injections.

What are the requirements for travel for people vaccinated with Covishield?

Castex also announced on Saturday that France was lifting all restrictions for vaccinated travellers. Whatever the country of departure, proof of vaccination means there is no need to show an essential reason for travel, a negative Covid test, or to observe a quarantine period.

READ ALSO Unvaccinated travellers to France from UK must show 24-hour test from Sunday

The statement said the exemption was in place because “vaccines are effective against the virus, and in particular its variant Delta”.

“We nonetheless strongly advise against travel from France to countries on the “red” list,” the website for France’s foreign ministry states.

Non-vaccinated travellers from “red zone” countries including India must have an essential reason for travel, take a test before and after travelling, and quarantine for ten days on arrival.

What does my vaccine certificate need to show?

France will now consider people fully vaccinated one week after they received their second dose of Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca, including Covishield, instead of 14 days previously, and 28 days after their Johnson & Johnson jab.

In order to travel to France, you will need to show your vaccine certificate at the border. This needs to be a certificate from the issuing health authority that complies to EU or WHO standards – showing the person’s details, date of vaccination, type of vaccine used and a batch number – and can be presented either on paper or in a digital format.

Can I use the French health pass?

Once you have arrived in France, your vaccination certificate should also allow you to access establishments such as museums, bars, restaurants, as well as long-distance train and bus travel.

CALENDAR: The key dates to know as France tightens Covid restrictions

France has announced that Covishield can now be used for the health pass which must be shown to enter many leisure and cultural venues.

French residents can upload their vaccination certificate to the TousAntiCovid app, but it is more difficult for people vaccinated outside of the EU. Those coming from the UK can present an NHS Covid Pass instead.

Government spokesman Gabriel Attal recently said there would be a ‘relaxation’ of the rules for people vaccinated outside the EU who cannot easily use the French health passport, and more information should be provided by July 21st, when the pass is extended to leisure and cultural venues hosting more than 50 people.

You can read our tourists’ guide to using France’s health pass HERE.

Member comments

  2. That is for ones good news, you return from any country without needing negative covid tests if vaccinated, now the next step should be that vaccinated people can choose or they want to wear masks. In anticipation I cut out two layers already, my mask is now a sinle layer summer mask now, lol.

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TRAVEL NEWS

Reader question: How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

As European travellers prepare for the introduction of enhanced passport checks known as the Entry & Exit System (EES), many readers have asked us what this means for the '90-day rule' for non-EU citizens.

Published: 1 May 2024 07:18 CEST
Reader question: How do the EU's new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

From the start date to the situation for dual nationals and non-EU residents living in the EU, it’s fair to say that readers of The Local have a lot of questions about the EU’s new biometric passport check system known as EES.

You can find our full Q&A on how the new system will work HERE, or leave us your questions HERE.

And one of the most commonly-asked questions was what the new system changes with regards to the 90-day rule – the rule that allows citizens of certain non-EU countries (including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to spend up to 90 days in every 180 in the EU without needing a visa.

And the short answer is – nothing. The key thing to remember about EES is that it doesn’t actually change any rules on immigration, visas etc.

Therefore the 90-day rule continues as it is – but what EES does change is the enforcement of the rule.

90 days 

The 90-day rule applies to citizens of a select group of non-EU countries;

Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, El Salvador, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Macau, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela.

Citizens of these countries can spend up to 90 days in every 180 within the EU or Schengen zone without needing a visa or residency permit.

People who are citizens of neither the EU/Schengen zone nor the above listed countries need a visa even for short trips into the EU – eg an Indian or Chinese tourist coming for a two-week holiday would require a visa. 

In total, beneficiaries of the 90-day rule can spend up to six months in the EU, but not all in one go. They must limit their visits so that in any 180-day (six month) period they have spent less than 90 days (three months) in the Bloc.

READ ALSO How does the 90-day rule work?

The 90 days are calculated according to a rolling calendar so that at any point in the year you must be able to count backwards to the last 180 days, and show that you have spent less than 90 of them in the EU/Schengen zone.

You can find full details on how to count your days HERE.

If you wish to spend more than 90 days at a time you will have to leave the EU and apply for a visa for a longer stay. Applications must be done from your home country, or via the consulate of your home country if you are living abroad.

Under EES 90-day rule beneficiaries will still be able to travel visa free (although ETIAS will introduce extra changes, more on that below).

EES does not change either the rule or how the days are calculated, but what it does change is the enforcement.

Enforcement

One of the stated aims of the new system is to tighten up enforcement of ‘over-stayers’ – that is people who have either overstayed the time allowed on their visa or over-stayed their visa-free 90 day period.

At present border officials keep track of your time within the Bloc via manually stamping passports with the date of each entry and exit to the Bloc. These stamps can then be examined and the days counted up to ensure that you have not over-stayed.

The system works up to a point – stamps are frequently not checked, sometimes border guards incorrectly stamp a passport or forget to stamp it as you leave the EU, and the stamps themselves are not always easy to read.

What EES does is computerise this, so that each time your passport is scanned as you enter or leave the EU/Schengen zone, the number of days you have spent in the Bloc is automatically tallied – and over-stayers will be flagged.

For people who stick to the limits the system should – if it works correctly – actually be better, as it will replace the sometimes haphazard manual stamping system.

But it will make it virtually impossible to over-stay your 90-day limit without being detected.

The penalties for overstaying remain as they are now – a fine, a warning or a ban on re-entering the EU for a specified period. The penalties are at the discretion of each EU member state and will vary depending on your personal circumstances (eg how long you over-stayed for and whether you were working or claiming benefits during that time).

ETIAS 

It’s worth mentioning ETIAS at this point, even though it is a completely separate system to EES, because it will have a bigger impact on travel for many people.

ETIAS is a different EU rule change, due to be introduced some time after EES has gone live (probably in 2025, but the timetable for ETIAS is still somewhat unclear).

It will have a big impact on beneficiaries of the 90-day rule, effectively ending the days of paperwork-free travel for them.

Under ETIAS, beneficiaries of the 90-rule will need to apply online for a visa waiver before they travel. Technically this is a visa waiver rather than a visa, but it still spells the end of an era when 90-day beneficiaries can travel without doing any kind of immigration paperwork.

If you have travelled to the US in recent years you will find the ETIAS system very similar to the ESTA visa waiver – you apply online in advance, fill in a form and answer some questions and are sent your visa waiver within a couple of days.

ETIAS will cost €7 (with an exemption for under 18s and over 70s) and will last for three years.

Find full details HERE. 

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